Micha Marah

Micha Marah (2013)

Micha Marah (born September 26, 1953 in Turnhout , Flanders , actually Aldegonda Leppens ) is a Belgian singer and radio and television presenter.

biography

In 1969 Micha Marah released her first single at the age of 16. However, she became known to a wider audience through her participation in the Belgian preliminary decision for the Eurovision Song Contest in 1971 , which was organized by the Flemish TV station BRT under the title Canzonissima . She took part in the semi-finals with several songs and was able to qualify for the final with the three entries Tamboerke , Ik ben zeventien and Die ring . In the final itself, she received zero points from the voting jury for all three entries. The song Tamboerke reached the Flemish single charts and was Micha Marah's first hit. Her second hit single was a Flemish cover version of the second-placed Spanish entry at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1971, En un mundo nuevo under the title Die heerlijke wereld . In the same year she reached the charts with the songs Ik ben een meisje and Sterren aan de hemel .

In 1975 she again took part in the Belgian preliminary decision for the Eurovision Song Contest . In an elaborate preselection, she was able to qualify for the final with the two titles Kom bij mij and 't is over , where she reached places seven and five. After further successful publications, the singer was selected internally by the BRT television station to represent Belgium at the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest . In a preliminary decision stretching over five weeks, the title Hey nana was selected as the competition entry from six entries . Marah disagreed with the title selection and hated the title so much that she refused to record it in the studio. At the competition in Jerusalem she received only five points and ended up in last place together with the Austrian representative Christina Simon . Marah described this result as a " nightmare" . It is the last competition entry to date that was never recorded by the original artist.

After participating in the competition, further publications followed. In 1983 she brought out an album with children's songs under the title Alleen voor kinderen . The LP was a success, so that parts two and three followed in 1984 and 1985. Together with Marijn De Valck, she presented the youth program Stad op stelten on television. She also moderated the radio programs Hadiemicha and Kwistig met muziek . In 1993, on the occasion of her fortieth birthday, an album with her greatest hits was released. In the same year she moved away from pop and hit music. In 1998 she released a CD of Irish folk songs . In 2006 she founded the Soul DivaZ project with Alana Dante and Sandra Kim , which presents hits from the 1960s in a stage program.

In May 2017, she sang her hated Eurovision title Hey nana again live on the TV show Van Gils & Gasten . Before that, she had only sung it once since 1979 in a medley in 2009.

Discography

Albums

• 1970: Micha Marah internationaal
• 1971: 17 years - Knokke 71
• 1983: Portretjes
• 1984: Alleen voor kinderen - Deel 1
• 1985: Alleen voor kinderen - Deel 2
• 1986: Alleen voor kinderen - Deel 3
• 1990: Micha Marah
• 1992: Neem m'n hand
• 1995: No Way Back
• 1998: Gouden moments
• 1998: Voyage
• 2000: Moving On

Singles

1969: De majoretten 1969: Ik heb geen mannequintalent 1969: Saki Samba 1970: Everything OK 1970: Mijn rendez-vous 1970: Ho ho in Tampico 1971: Tamboerke 1971: The heerlike wereld 1971: Long hair 1971: Hey jongens 1972: Kersen zonder stenen 1972: Johnny Boy 1972: Disc Jockey Napolitano 1973: Heel alleen kan ik niet leven 1973: Mr. Popcorn 1974: Ik zal altijd van ja houden 1974: Hasta mañaña 1975: 't is over 1975: Beter leven geven 1976: The French Song 1977: Vaya con dios 1977: Dibbi dibbi dibbi da 1978: If You Love Me 1978: rain 1979: Want je zit he zomaar bij

1979: Comment ça va 1979: Altijd tesamen 1979: My Lullaby 1980: Strooi wat witte bloemen om je heen 1980: Com eens back 1981: El caballero 1981: Ik hou van alle zes 1981: Show Me the Way 1982: 's at night as je eenzam bent 1983: Rozen Martha 1983: Ineke 1984: Rosetta en hair dromen 1984: Zestien jaar 1984: Kerstmis voor iedereen 1985: As ever really van iemand houdt 1985: Benny 1986: Blijf van m'n vriend 1986: Every one of them 1986: Jij hoort bij mij 1987: Real vrienden blijben vrienden 1987: How did he mee 1987: Vrijdagavond 1988: Ascheid is a beetje als sterven 1988: Waarom ga je naar the other 1989: seeds dansen

1989: Ik blijf op je wachten 1989: 't is te kom weer ran te zijn 1989: Jij bent het einde 1990: M'n lieve man 1990: Europe Together 1990: Hou me vast 1990: Kerstsingle 1991: En ik blijf van je houden 1991: Niets is mij teveel 1991: En op dat ogenblik 1992: That's all 1992: Kan ik nog geven om jou 1993: Nobody 1993: Veertig jaar 1995: Lost zoon 1995: Granuaile 1995: I Will Be There 1995: One Heart Breaks 1997: Only a Woman's Heart 1997: Down in the City 1998: Meet on the Ledge 1998: Caledonia

Sources and web links

• Micha Marah in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Official website with biography and discography

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.geocities.ws/national_finals_70s_80s/Belgium1971SF.html
2. ↑ http://www.geocities.ws/national_finals_70s_80s/Belgium1971.html
3. ↑ http://www.geocities.ws/national_finals_70s_80s/Belgium1975.html
4. ↑ http://www.geocities.ws/national_finals_70s_80s/Belgium1979SF.html
5. ↑ http://www.geocities.ws/national_finals_70s_80s/Belgium1979.html
6. ↑ Jan Feddersen: A song can be a bridge , Hoffmann and Campe, 2002
7. ↑ http://www.diggiloo.net/?1979
8. ^ John Kennedy O'Connor: Eurovision Song Contest - The Official Book of 50 Years of European Pop History , Gondrom 2004. p. 78
9. ↑ VRT NWS: Micha Marah zingt gehate song festival number "Hey nana" voor het eerst sinds 1979. May 11, 2017, accessed on May 14, 2020 (Dutch).